Past The Barrier
by Trignifty
Summary: What happens when 7 girls who met in a chat room get pulled into the Newsie world? Read on to find out! I know it doesn't sound very interesting but give it a chance...please? Also please give reviews
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership of the Newsies, the songs, or the plot line in anyway. Anything, or anyone that you recognize from the movie belongs to the movie. I am not claiming ownership in any way, shape, or form. I'm just a girl who loves the movie and wants to write about it. 

Chapter Note: In this chapter the girls will use chat speak. Why? Because they are in a chat room. I did not "over-do" it, all I added were a few "lol" and "omg" nothing else. The chat speak will stop after this chapter. Why did I add it? Because they are in a chat room and I want to make it believeable. Take this example, I'm using one of Racetrack's quotes: "Jack, you done thinking yet?" compared to "Jack, ya done thinkin' yet?" In that example I added a New York accent to make it more believable. I did not use any chat speak whatsoever in anything that wasn't dialogue, only in the dialouge and then very sparingly. So with that out of the way, on with the story!

Chapter 1

What Happened?

Trignifty's Point of View

The garage door closed with a "thud" as I climbed out of the car after my two brothers and my sister. It had been a long day at school and there was nothing I wanted more than to go downstairs, check in the arena, and watch Newsies. But, sadly, that was impossible. I had 30 math problems in algebra that I had to get done, as well as a report due the next day that I hadn't even started, not to mention reading 40 pages for English, and gathering notes on geodes for science. _But_, I thought, _there's no harm in checking the arena really quick before I start my homework_. A few minutes later after making that decision I hurried downstairs to my most prized possession: my laptop.

I sat down and clicked on Internet Explorer, while it was loading I thought about who might be in the arena, Ravenwood, my best friend was usually in there, Seagull, another one of my good friends was normally there too, always ready with some joke about my clumsiness. Also Paloosh was almost always there along with Celena, Nanners, and Folly Foal all four good friends. Then of course there were other people in the arena as well, Whispered Litany, Amish, Despair, Cardboard Castle, Choxie, Sunday, Paramore, Rae, Iris, Losteh, Womack, Wangdoodle, Nailpolish, Marvella, Emerald City, Randa and many more. All these people I at least got along with, though I wasn't necessarily friends with them. Though there was one person that I didn't get along with at all, and that was Caladwen. Caladwen was (in my opinion) nasty, rude, mean, all together not the greatest person in the arena.

Internet Explorer opened and I typed in the address bar Horseland was an online community of people who signed up who could own, breed, and show horses. There were two ranks of player a Premium Player and a Basic player, there were many differences but one of the biggest differences was the Arena. The arena was a chat room where premium players could go and chat, many friends and enemies had been made in the arena and my biggest enemy was Caladwen. I need not go into details, needless to say the two of us got into a fight and it was never resolved. Cala had many friends whom liked her and were friends with her, people who were more-or-less blinded by her fake friendliness, sweetness, and kindness. I had always watched the people in the arena, even before I became a premium player and wished I could be one. I had seen Cala pretend to be best friends with someone until they trusted her and let her into their account and she would steal money, horses, and dogs. But because of the millions of "  
friends" she had, no one believed the unfortunate player who had fallen victim to one of Caladwen's schemes. Cala was smart, "friendly", fantastic at acting over the internet, and a very good arguer. It was said among the members of the arena that she could "turn black into white with just her words."

The Horseland page opened up and I logged into my main account, as usual I had a few messages, mostly people asking me to vote for them in some club or another. I then clicked on the link that said Talk and then clicked on arena. I saw that Seagull, Celena, Paloosh, Nanners, and Folly Foal were there. They were chatting about Cel's most recent show, in which she had placed first. I congratulated her then "sat in my favorite corner".

"Hey Trig! Spilled any hot chocolate lately?" joked Seagull.

"No, not me but my little brother has though" I replied, Sea hadn't been in the arena for awhile and I was glad to see her.

"Hmmm, maybe it's genetic lol" replied Sea

"giggle snort maybe, maybe" I answered

I then turned my attention to Celena.

"Hey Cel, is there a word of the day today?" I asked jokingly, the word of the day was a running joke between Celena and I, and it was what had sealed our friendship, that and Cel's French bread gun.

"Yup, its hunger…I practically starved myself today, not on purpose though" answered Celena.

"ooh, let me guess, it means an extremely empty stomach that results in stomach pains that get in the way of functioning correctly" I replied giggling.

"Correct )" replied Cel.

"So…why did you end up 'practically starving yourself' today?" I asked

"Well, I had cereal for breakfast and was going to buy lunch at school but the deli was closed, and I forgot some of my money." She answered

"Aw, poor Cel, I had scrambled eggs for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch and Thai food for dinner"

"Omg Trig! I hate you!" she joked.

"Maybe Cel should eat some of the bread from her French bread gun!" I added with a giggle.

"Hmm, not a bad idea…"

"Triiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiggggggg! Tackles and hugs" Ravenwood made a grand entrance

"Raven! hugs back so…what's up?" I asked

"Eh, not much, I have some homework to finish up, but that's about it. You?" replied Raven

"Homework…then I think I'm gonna go watch Newsies" I answered

"sigh sill obsessed with Mush aren't you?" she accused

"I was never obsessed!" I defended myself

"Suuure, that's what they alllllllllll say" answered Raven, sarcasm a little too obvious

"Ok then, Raven what about Jacky Boy?" asked Sea.

"Uh…no comment" replied Raven. The three of us, Seagull, Ravenwood and Trignifty (me) were all crazed Newsie fans. We all loved the movie as well as some of the guys in it. Raven adored Jack, Sea was obsessed with Spot, and I was probably the biggest Mush fanatic there has ever been.

"Newsies fans unite!" I yelled (not sure how you yell over the internet, but…)

"Can I join the circle?" I literally gasped; Folly Foal had never, ever said a word to me.

"Of course you can, if you tell us who your favorite newsie is evil grin" ha, just like Sea to say that.

"You tell first" replied Folly

"Mush" I said

"Jack" answered Raven

"SPOT!!!!!" yelled Sea

"Ok, fine, Skittery" answered Folly.

"Omg! Skittery? He's gorgeous!" exclaimed Raven

"It's the cutest thing ever when he does the mini spit-handshake with the little kid in the orange" I added.

"Omg Trig! I know! It's adorable!" said Raven

"I also think Racetrack is pretty cool" added Folly

"In 1899 the streets of New York echoed with the voices of Newsies peddling the newspapers of Joseph Pulitzer, William Randolph Hearst and other giants of the newspaper world. On every street corner you saw 'em, carrying the banner, bringing you the news for a penny a pape." Seagull quoted.

I was about to continue the quote when suddenly the text on the screen began to blur and the colors began to change. Swirling patterns began to take form and strange shapes took shape. Far off in the distance I thought I heard singing. Already sensing that something not entirely friendly was about to happen, I was left no other choice than to sit back as I was pulled screaming into the glowing computer.

I landed with an audible "thump" then sat up and looked around me. I was in some sort of alley along with six other girls. The jeans and polo t-shirt I had been wearing had been replaced with a loose white shirt and brown shorts, similar to the outfit Mush wears near the end of Newsies. The girls standing, sitting, or lying around me were dressed quite similar. On my head was a newsboy cap. Then I turned and took my first good look at the other girls.

Please give reviews! Chapter 2 will be up soon! I promise!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Dream Come True

Ravenwood's Point Of View

I sat up rubbing my eyes. I was in some sort of alley…alone. It had been the strangest thing, suddenly the computer screen had started to blur and shift and then it was growing, and growing, and it seemed to be coming out of the frame, or maybe I was getting smaller? And now I was stuck here…alone…in a creepy alley. Ok, fine, it's not that creepy, judging from the sun it's only about 6:30am but still, what happens when the day passes and its 9:00 or 10:00 at night? I shivered at the thought. I had to get home somehow. Suddenly I heard screaming, but it was coming…from above? That couldn't be right. But it was getting louder, and louder, and…suddenly something came falling from the sky and hit the ground with a "thud". The person sat up and looked around. She was dressed quite near the same as me, in newsboy clothes with a bit of a girlish flair. She had average length dark blond hair, or was it light brown? And green eyes. She looked like she was 15 or 16. She was muttering to herself.

"Okay Cel, now you've really done it" then she turned around and saw me "who are you?"

"Um, I'm Ravenwood, but you can call be Raven."

Suddenly her eyes got very wide. "Ravenwood? Raven? Oh crap."

"What?" I asked confused

"Erm, I'm Celena…as in Cel…as in Horseland"

Now it was time for me to yell "oh crap"

Then we heard screaming…from above. The person that came this time was a tall girl who looked to be about 17; she had very dark hair and brown eyes.

"OUCH!" she yelled as she hit the ground, Cel and I ran over to help her up.

"And who might you be?" I asked, "I'm Ravenwood and she's Celena"

"What? Ravenwood? Celena? As in Horseland?" asked the girl

"Yup" answered Celena

"Oh well, I'm Paloosh"

Cel whistled. "Who's next? I'm going to guess, I'm guessing Seagull"

Just as she said that more screaming was heard and two girls fell out of the sky at the same time. Paloosh, Cel, and I helped the two girls to their feet and were soon introduced. The one with red hair, green eyes, and freckles was Nanners, and the one with blonde hair and blue eyes was Seagull.

"Now all we need is Trignifty and Folly Foal" commented Nanners with a grin. 30 seconds later all five girls heard screaming…yet again. The new arrival was a girl who looked to be about 20 with wavy black hair and green eyes.

"Well…I don't think that's Trig, because she said that she was 15 so I think it's Folly" whispered Seagull to me.

"Yup, I'm Folly Foal…but how did you know?" she asked looking up.

"Well it was you, me, Cel, Raven, Sea, and Trig in the arena when it happened and now all of us are here except Trig." Answered Paloosh

"Hmmm, well how on earth-" Folly was cut off by screaming and a few seconds later a girl who looked to be about fifteen landed in the middle of the alley. She was dressed in the same style as the rest of us. She had blue eyes and her brown hair was braided into two braids, on her head was a newsboy's cap that looked extremely cute. She sat up and looked at us; I extended my hand to help her up.

"Hi, I'm Ravenwood, from Horseland; I'm guessing you're Trignifty?"

"Yeah, Trignifty, but, how did you know?" she asked

"Lucky guess" I shrugged my shoulders grinning

"Riiiiiiiiiight" she said sarcastically "anyway, where are we?"

No one knew, we sat down and tried to think of any possible ideas, none came to mind. Suddenly we heard singing.

_Look! They're __puttin__' up the headline __You__ call that a headline? __I get better stories __From__ the copper on the beat! __I was gonna start at twenty __Now a __dozen'll__ be plenty __Tell me, __how'm__ I gonna make ends meet?_

We ran to the end of the alley and saw that it led to a large square with a statue of Horace Greenly, and in front were the gates to the New York World. Folly, Sea, Trig and I all gasped, it was New York! Except in 1899! When Newsies took place! I could dance and scream and yell and sing right now, I was in Newsies!

Suddenly all of us turned to see a crowd of gorgeous newsboy's coming around the corner, singing and dancing, led by an even more gorgeous leader. It was Jack Kelly! Christian Bale, but still seventeen and unmarried! And the only person in the way was Sarah. It was a dream come true.

Please review! Thanks

Also, if you want to be in this story please say so in a review. In the review include the name of the character (preferably your penname), a few basic personality traits, and how they look. Please don't be too detailed because I want to have some freedom as a writer. If your character is a girl and you want her to fall in love with one of the newsies please specify who you want (Mush, Race, Skittery, Spot, Jack, Blink, and Specs are already taken) also your character might not necessarily be from our world, he or she might be a newsie from New York that wasn't in the movie. Um, I'm not going to have any slash in this fic so don't ask. I think that's about it, I need more characters so please let me know! Thanks!


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership of the Newsies, the songs, or the plot line in anyway. Anything, or anyone that you recognize from the movie belongs to the movie. I am not claiming ownership in any way, shape, or form. I'm just a girl who loves the movie and wants to write about it.

Chapter 3

Assignments

Celena's Point of View

I ran to the end of the alley after Trig, Raven, Sea, and Folly. The sight that greeted my eyes was, well, strange. The alley opened up to a large square, in the middle was a statue of Horace Greely, whoever he was, and the gates to the New York World. But that wasn't the strangest. Coming into the square was a group of newsboys, singing and dancing. How…strange. The newsboys were singing something about bad headlines. I took a closer look at them and saw that they were pretty cute, at least most of them. Suddenly I heard someone yell; I turned and saw Seagull running out into the middle of the square, with Trig and Raven running after her.

The Newsies were coming into the square flooding it, and Trig, Sea, and Raven were lost in the crowd. The newsies were singing and dancing, and at one point there was a gap in the crowd big enough for me to see Trig, Sea, and Raven, I couldn't believe my eyes. They were there singing and dancing along with them, as if their parts had been pre-choreographed. Though all three of them had seen the movie Newsies before, if this was where we were, they had said it was a musical…

My thoughts were stopped my Folly rushing past me. This couldn't be happening! Folly was an adult! An adult for crying out loud, and she was about to go dance in the streets! Paloosh and Nanners came and stood next to me as we looked on the scene in disbelief. Trig, Sea, Raven, and Folly all seemed to be having a great time, but just seeing people having fun wasn't enough to make me do something that crazy.

The gates to the New York World Distribution Center opened and the newsies rushed in. Paloosh and Nanners rushed past me. What were they doing? Where they going to go dance in the streets too? I wouldn't doubt it from Nanners, who appeared very crazy, at least over the internet, but Paloosh too? Was I the only sane person here?

But my worries were put at ease when I saw that they had gone and grabbed Sea, Trig, Raven, and Folly to keep them from continuing up to the distribution center. It was obvious that they were arguing.

"Paloosh! I don't know what you are thinking, but if I want to sell papes, I'm gonna sell papes, and if I want to dance in the streets, I'm gonna dance in the streets!" Sea was shouting.

"Sea, get a grip, you could at least try to act your age!" Paloosh fired back.

"Hey! Break it up! Break it up I say!" Raven cut in. "Sea, you don't need to get so fired up about it and Paloosh you don't need to tell us what to do so just break it up, you're both wrong and you're both right so quit arguing."

I ran over to back up Raven, "honestly you two, none of us want to be here so just shut up! Arguing won't help!"

"Jeez Cel, you're a little angry, and by the way some of us do want to be here like me," exclaimed Trig.

"Wow, kids these days, so immature" said Folly, none too softly shaking her head.

"And what about you?" yelled Nanners "you were out there dancing in the street a few minutes ago!"

"So? What 'cha gonna do about it Nanners?" Folly replied

"Wow, what an original comeback" said Nanners rolling her eyes sarcastically, "you know, I liked you a lot better in the arena than in real life."

"Jeez, why can't everyone here just try to grow up" I said.

"Oh stay out of this Celena"

"Stay out of it? Stay out of it?!? You are having a huge fight in the middle of the street in New York City and you are asking me to stay out of it?!?"

"Honestly, we are all in the same boat so can't we just get along?" Sea put in.

"She's right you know, fightin' each other ain't gonna help nothin'" We turned around to see the tall blond kid who wore the cowboy hat and bandana, and seemed to be the leader. When Raven saw him her eyes grew huge and she looked like she was about to collapse, though there was a huge smile on her face.

Folly Foal extended a hand, "so I take it you're Jack Kelly?"

He looked a bit surprised "yes, that's true."

Folly grinned, "I'm Folly Foal, or Folly" she continued to make introductions.

"So, you seem new here, why don't 'cha sell with us today? I can find you some sellin' partners," he said grinning. Wow, he was cute, I couldn't take my eyes off him, I turned and saw Raven and she was standing her eyes wide, just looking at him, then I remembered that her favorite newsie was Jack, if this was him…

"Cel! Cel! Celena" my thoughts were interrupted by Paloosh shaking me.

I looked around "Huh?"

Paloosh grinned "welcome back, you were really off in lala land this time."

We were now surrounded by the whole group of newsies. "Alright fella's these goils are new and they need some people to show them the ropes so I need a few volunteers!" Several hands shot up into the air. "Ok, Mush you can take this goil, I think her name is Trignifty," I saw Trig nod as she followed Mush, she was almost skipping, she looked so excited. I could tell why she liked him, he was actually very cute, curly brown hair, brown eyes, and tanned skin, my eyes followed the two of them until they turned a corner. Jack was talking again, "Racetrack, how 'bout you take Nanners and Seagull with you, is that alright?"

"Sure Jack." Seagull squealed and ran after him with Nanners close behind her.

"Um, Skittery you can take Paloosh and Folly." Folly grinned and followed the tall newsie out of the crowd, dragging Paloosh with her.

"Let's see, who's left? Ravenwood and Celena" he paused to think, then turned to a newsie standing behind him "Davy do you mind showing Celena the ropes? And of course Les can help you."

"Ok, Jack, I guess I can."

"Ok, Celena, you can go with David here and his little brother Les." I nodded dumbly and followed them out of the square. How did I get myself into this? I turned around just in time to see Raven leaving with Jack. How was I ever going to survive?  
Thanks for reading! I despreretly need more characters so please let me know if you want to be in the story, I specified the guidlines at the end of chapter two.

The muse lives on reviews! Without reviews the muse will not get fed and the chapter progress will be slow or there won't be any progress at all and we can't let that happen. So...feed the muse! 


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership of the Newsies, the songs, or the plot line in anyway. Anything, or anyone that you recognize from the movie belongs to the movie. I am not claiming ownership in any way, shape, or form. I'm just a girl who loves the movie and wants to write about it. 

Chapter 4

After the Strike?

Seagull's Point of View

"So the foist thing you gotta learn is that headline's don't sell papes"

"Newsies sell papes," I interrupted.

"Hey! How'd you know that? Jack said that you was beginners," asked Race.

"Eh, don't ask" I said grinning, there were some advantages to seeing the movie previous to being pulled into New York, advantages that Nanners, Celena, and Paloosh didn't have. "So, what would you do if the World raised the price of the papers?" Of course I knew that the World was going to raise the price of the papes and all that but I wanted to know what Race's ideas were, before the strike.

"Probably go on strike, we beat 'em once we can beat 'em again. Besides they wouldn't be stupid enough to raise the prices again would they? I mean Pulitzer ain't the brightest man in New York but he ain't dumb either." I stopped dead in my tracks, so the strike had already happened? That didn't make any sense.

"So, you've already had a strike?"

He rolled his eyes "honestly, where have you been goil? All of New York knew about it."

"Um, I used to live in Chicago and my family just moved here" I lied.

"Oh, well then, as long as you have a good excuse" he answered jokingly.

"Um, so, I was wondering, could you possibly direct me towards Brooklyn? I mean, that's the area that really interests me and-"

"The area? Or the newsies?" he asked grinning "listen, I ain't takin' you to Brooklyn; it's a dangerous part of the city, especially for a goil who doesn't know her way around."

"Please Racetrack?" I gave him my biggest puppy dog eyes.

"Hey, I'm sorry buy I ain't takin' you to Brooklyn and that's my final answer, like I said before, it's a dangerous area."

As we were walking he had been selling papers, and I could tell that he had also learned how to "improve the truth". He had said that several kids had been saved from drowning when it was actually some puppies and had said that there had been a huge robbery uptown somewhere, when it had actually just been a few things taken from a house. I dropped back to talk to Nanners.

"So, what do you think?" I asked grinning evilly.

"I don't know, it's kinda a shock getting pulled into 1900 or whenever this is through your computer screen, you know? Though I'm glad that you Trig, Raven, and Folly know what this is."

I snorted "I don't know much more than you do, because apparently this is after the movie took place."

"Well at least you seem to know the people," said Nanners quietly, "I'm friends with everyone back home, here I don't know anyone, not even you or Paloosh, or Celena, 'cause that was just through the internet."

"Hey, relax," I said grinning "if the newsies are anything like they are in the movie then you will fit in perfectly, they are very nice you know."

Nanners smiled, "thanks Sea, by the way what did you say that kid's name was again?"

"Racetrack?"

"Yeah, him, he's pretty cute"

I giggled

"What's so funny?" she asked, giving me a suspicious look.

"Oh nothin' just the fact that everyone is falling for the newsies is all. The look that Celena was giving Jack earlier this morning, wow, it was hilarious," I said laughing even harder.

"Hey goils, can you walk any slower?" called Race from up ahead.

"We're coming!" I called as we ran to catch up. After walking about fifteen minutes more we began to hear the sound of cheering and shouting and of hoofs beating. I should have known Race would take us to the Racetrack. We went through the gates and up the bleachers to a large area where people could stand. Race continued selling papers and soon he had sold his last one.

"Come on, let's find ourselves some seats" he called to us. We followed him and sat down. One advantage was that both Nanners and I owned our own horses and Race was extremely interested in that. Horses had always interested him he said. He didn't say that gambling was also something that had always interested him. "So Nanners, how did you get your name?" he asked.

"Um, what do you mea-" I interrupted her.

"How did she get it? Um, I don't rightly remember it was so long ago," I said giving her a look that was meant to say, be careful what you say.

"Well then what about you Seagull?"

"Well, I always loved water and was always splashing in puddles and stuff when I was younger so they considered naming me after some sort of fish, I think it was flounder, but before it was set in stone I was caught trying to jump of the lodging house room. My excuse was that I wanted to fly so I was landed with the name Seagull because seagulls like water and they fly." It was a convincing lie, I had been trying to think up a way to as how I had gotten my name ever since we ended up here and finally came up with that, and it seemed to work. Race chuckled.

"So how old were you then? When you thought that you could fly off the lodging house roof?"

"Eh, probably five or six, my parents died when I was real young, not sure when, one of the older newsgirls found me and took me to the lodging house." Jeez, where were all these lies coming from? I kept expecting my nose to grow a couple inches, though at this rate it should have grown at least three feet. But Race seemed to be falling for it which was good.

"Sad, yeah you've probably guessed where my name came from," he said nodding to the track, with the horses racing around it.

Nanners seemed to finally get the idea that we were talking about name origins from before New York. "Oh, I remember now," she said jumping up.

"Remember what?" I asked giving her a warning glance.

"I remember where my name came from," she turned to Race "it was so long ago that sometimes I forget, anyway, I lived in the same lodging house as Seagull here, but I came there when I was waaaaaaaay younger, it was my older sister that brought me there, I was three at the time, she was nine. Anyway, being a three year old I never quite got my brain around the fact that my parents were dead so I was always walking around going 'Nana? Papa?' so they decided my name would be Nanners because I wouldn't stop looking for my Nana." She gave a little sad sigh, "of course later on I learned what had really happened and it devastated me but I had my older sister." Wow, Nanners was good at lying, better than me, if I hadn't known better I would have thought it was true.

Racetrack shook his head "depressing" he muttered then he turned back to the track.

Thanks for reading, please give reviews! Also I still need more characters, information is at the bottom of chapter two.

Feed the muse! Give reviews!


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership of the Newsies, the songs, or the plot line in anyway. Anything, or anyone that you recognize from the movie belongs to the movie. I am not claiming ownership in any way, shape, or form. I'm just a girl who loves the movie and wants to write about it.

Chapter 5

Selling Papes

Ravenwood's Point of View

I followed Jack Kelly through the streets of New York City. This had to be a dream, eventually I would wake up and it wouldn't be reality and I would be extremely depressed the rest of my life, it had to be a dream, but I wished it was real. I mean, it's impossible to be pulled through your computer screen into New York City over a century ago, isn't it? I had figured out that it was after the strike when I saw David and Les so I had no idea what was going to happen, but when you're with Jack Kelly, nothing too bad can happen right?

"Hey Raven! Do you think you can sell some?" I snapped out of my trance, Jack Kelly, talking to me. 

"Um, yeah, sure, I guess so" I stammered out. Oh wake up, I told myself, stop acting like an idiot.

He grinned "great, take these" he handed me about twenty papers, "and remember, headlines don't sell papes-"

"Newsies sell papes" I finished

He grinned again, oh I felt like I could melt (in a good way) "you're pretty good, were you a newsie before you came to New York?"

I had to think fast, and suddenly I came up with a brilliant idea, "No, actually, my family owned a ranch, in New Mexico, pretty near Santa Fe, you ever heard of it?"

"Santa Fe? You lived in Santa Fe? What was it like?" he seemed like a first grader waiting for story time at the library, all excited and breathless.

"You should see it, it's all bigger, the desert, the sky, and the sun," wow, I'm so incredibly original, but if I was to get Jack Kelly I had to work on weak points, besides they were weak points for Sarah too.

He grinned, "I thought it was that way, so what did you do in Santa Fe, I mean, with your parents ownin' a ranch and everythin'?"

I tried to get a faraway, dreamy look though I was sure it was failing, "our home was on a huge ranch, about ten miles out of town, we raised cattle, and trained horses. My horse was an appaloosa named Derby, you know the spotted horses?" He nodded. "My papa was a horse trainer, my mama took care of us kids."

"You had siblings?"

"Yup, I have an older brother named Joshua and a younger sister named Anna."

"So, why are you here?"

"A fire, it destroyed everything, Mama and Papa decided to send me back east until they are able to rebuild everything, because I couldn't be much help you know? I know that they care about me and want be to come back, they're gonna send for me as soon as they have the ranch up and runnin' again."

He whistled, "You know it's strange, with every new newsie that comes their story gets more and more depressin'"

By noon we had sold most of our papers and headed to Tibby's for lunch, the rest of the newsies were there except for Racetrack, who had Seagull and Nanners with him, unless Seagull had run off to Brooklyn in search of Spot Conlon. I smiled at the thought, Sea was a crazy girl, at least she seemed like it from what I knew of her, I could just picture her running through New York City in search of her "prince charming". I didn't really like Spot myself, he was too rough and tough, I guess, I preferred the more quiet guys, that's why I loved Jack, for the quiet thoughtful side of him.

"So Raven, what 'cha gonna order?" Jack asked.

I groaned, I didn't have any money with me, just some spare change that happened to be in my pockets but when I took a look at the menu I realized that the nickel I had would buy me a roast beef sandwich, as well as a lemonade. Wow, I wish I really lived in 1900. We ordered our food and talked while we waited for it. Trig had had an amazing time, of course she had, she had been having one on one time with the newsie of her dreams. Of course I had too, but she didn't need to worry about a certain Sarah Jacobs. Celena was happy; she and Les were getting along great though David was a bit too quiet for her. Paloosh and Folly were talking with the newsies like they had known them their entire lives and Skittery actually had his arm around Folly's shoulders and I could see that she was blushing slightly.

Suddenly the door opened and in came several girls. They sat down at the same tables as the rest of us. Jack straightened up. "Goils, I'd like you to meet a few new newsgoils, Raven, Paloosh, Celena, Trig, and Folly." They waved smiling but then sat down and continued about their conversation, all but one. She jumped up and came over and sat down next to Jack. Oh the nerve of her! Sitting next to my newsie! Of course right now he was Sarah Jacobs' newsie but, things can change.

"So Jack, how was sellin' today?" she asked. Ack! I felt like I was going to explode, who did she think she was anyway?

"Oh it was pretty good. By the way, Raven I'd like you to meet Pippa, she's my sister." I nearly choked on my lemonade. Jack Kelly? Having a sister? Jeez this was getting more complicated all the time. I waited until I had calmed down and wasn't in danger of choking on lemonade and then extended my hand.

"I'm Ravenwood, or Raven, nice to meet you" she shook it.

"Nice to meet you too, as my brother said I'm Pippa," I nodded, "well, I'd better get back to my table, nice to meet 'cha Raven" she grinned and then walked away. As I looked at her I realized she did look a little bit like Jack, their eyes were the exact same shade, as well as some other similarities. Our food came and we had a good lunch then we continued selling papes through the afternoon. By 4:00 we were done, and spent the rest of the time walking around New York.

"So, do you want to stop off at the Jacob's? Then you can meet Sarah," he asked, about an hour after we ran out of papers.

"Sarah? Who's Sarah?" I decided to play dumb.

"Dave's sister and my fiancé"

"Your WHAT?!?" I practically yelled. This couldn't be happening, I thought that I may have had a chance but no, Jack had to have gone and gotten engaged, to a wimpy girl who happened to enjoy hitting walls and dressed up as Little Bo Peep! It wasn't fair.

He grinned and shook his head, "goils these days," I gave him a look that clearly said 'take it back or else'. He laughed, "Fine, anyway, do you wanna come?"

No I do not! I wanted to yell; of course I wasn't going to say that instead I shrugged my shoulders "I guess that's alright."

He smiled "great, come on." We wandered through the streets of Manhattan, and soon we arrived at a tall apartment building. He opened the door and hurried up the stairs, with me following. The stairway was dimly lit and the walls were covered with a thick layer of filth that looked like it had been accumulating since…who knows when. On the third floor he turned off the stairway and headed down the hall. I followed trying to think of a plan to get back at Sarah. Jeez I hadn't even met the girl and I was planning revenge, how…pathetic, but I couldn't help myself.

Jack stopped at the door marked with a large 8 on the door and knocked. The door opened to reveal Esther Jacobs.

"Oh, Jack, what a pleasant surprise, come right on in and sit down" she turned around and called "Sarah! You have a visitor!" She didn't seem to notice me at all.

We entered the small apartment, for lack of a better word and sat down.

"Oh, Mrs. Jacobs this here is my friend Raven, she's new so I'm just, showin' her the ropes."

She inclined her head politely then turned back to the potatoes she had been peeling. I looked around the room for Sarah, where was the little devil? Suddenly I heard a thump and turned around. There she was climbing inside from the fire escape, covered almost head to toe in soap bubbles! Not exactly what I expected Bo Peep Sarah to be doing. She looked up and saw Jack and smiled.

"I was just doing some laundry; sorry I'm such a mess."

He swept her into a hug, "you look beautiful, even covered in soap bubbles and your hair soaking wet." Oh how I wished I hadn't come, this was turning out to be a nightmare. He then turned to me, "Sarah, this is my friend Raven; she's new so I'm just helpin' her get started."

Sarah smiled again, "very nice to meet you, I'd shake your hand but mine is soaking wet right now." I smiled back, she wasn't as horrible as I thought she would be, maybe Jack had had a bit of a positive influence on her personality. "Would you two like to stay for dinner? It's almost ready; we'll be having it as soon as David and Les get home."

I looked up at Jack and he nodded, "that would be great," I said. Perhaps I had misjudged Sarah Jacobs after all.

Thanks for reading! I still need characters so let me know if you want to be in the story, also please give reviews, also to those of you who have given reviews, you are the best! Thanks so much! 


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership of the Newsies, the songs, or the plot line in anyway. Anything or anyone that you recognize from the movie belongs to the movie. I am not claiming ownership in any way, shape, or form. I'm just a girl who loves the movie and wants to write about it.**

**Also, I was watching Newsies last night and I realized I had made a mistake in the previous chapter. The mistake is I said that the Jacobs' room number was 8, but, in the movie it is 51, and it takes too much time to re-upload the document again, so, I'm just going to switch over to 51 now, mmmkay?**

Chapter 6

Dinner with the Jacobs

Celena's Point of View

I followed David and Les through the streets of New York. Honestly, of all the people I could have been assigned to, I had to get David. I had never seen Newsies, so I didn't know much about them but I was guessing that David was the most boring "tour guide" I could have been assigned too. Les was cute and really friendly but David was such a stickler for rules that Les and I now called him Mr. Rulebook, not to his face of course.

"Celena! Do you wanna come have dinner with us?" my thoughts were interrupted by Les tugging on my arm "please?"

"Les, I don't think she can-" began David, but I interrupted him by saying

"That would be great Les; I'd like to meet the rest of your family." David snorted but didn't argue. We soon arrived at a tall tenement building and went inside, up a dark, dreary staircase and then down a hall until we came to a door marked with the number 51.

We entered the small "apartment". A middle aged woman was pulling some bread out of the oven, an older man was reading a newspaper, and the kid who had seemed to be in charge this morning, I think his name was Jack Kelly, was sitting on the windowsill.

"Mama!" cried Les as he ran to hug the woman. Once the hug was over he introduced me, "this is Celena, she was helpin' us sell papers today."

She greeted me politely. "Our daughter Sarah is outside doing some laundry if you would like to meet her." I nodded, I had heard stories about how Sarah was an annoying "perfect princess" and I idea of someone like that doing laundry was a bit…well…shocking. Suddenly I heard a loud splash and a ton of giggling. I ran to the window and saw Raven and another drenched, head to toe in soapy water.

"Sarah Marie Jacobs!" Mrs. Jacobs was at the window next to me. Sarah turned and gave her an all-too-innocent look.

"Yes Mama?"

"Sarah Jacobs" repeated Mrs. Jacobs, "I honestly don't know what to do with you. Here I am trying to raise a young lady, and you are having a water fight on the fire escape! I actually though I had succeeded in breaking you out of your childish ways, and then you had to go and meet that…that…"

"Newsie?" Raven volunteered.

"Newsie! That's the word! And then you had to go and meet that newsie! What am I going to do with you?"

Sarah just grinned "well, at least your laundry is getting done."

Mrs. Jacobs made a sound that was something between a "humph" and a snort, then went back to setting the table. I smiled and stepped out onto the porch fire escape thingy.

"So, Raven, I see that Sarah Jacobs isn't as horrible as you said she was" I whispered to Raven. She just snorted. A few minutes later we were sitting down to dinner. Not that it was gourmet or anything, far from it, but I'll never say no to a home cooked meal. As we ate we chatted about nearly a million different topics and I noticed Jack and Sarah holding hands, I expected Raven to freak, but she just sat there, like nothing wrong was going on, probably actually meeting Sarah had calmed her down. After dinner Jack stood up.

"Well, I'd better be gettin' back to the lodgin' house" he turned to Raven and me. "You goils can come with me, unless you wanna stay here tonight."

"Nope, we'll come" said Raven jumping up so fast that she knocked her chair over. Jack turned to me.

"And what 'bout you Cel?"

"I'll come" I said getting up. We said goodnight to the Jacobs, and Jack actually kissed Sarah, I practically had to tackle Raven to keep her from attacking them. We left the building and walked through the dark streets. Finally we turned a corner and across the street from us was the lodging house. I was several people standing outside it, clearly having an argument.

"We told you, it's a _newsboy_ lodgin' house!" I heard one boy say, I think it was Racetrack.

"Oh yeah?" I recognized Seagull's voice, "then where are we supposed to sleep? Huh?"

"Don't ask me!"

Suddenly Jack came to the rescue, "Ok, break it up! Break it up! The goils can go to the newsgoils lodgin' house. Blink and Mush, you can take 'em there." With that he went inside.

We stood in stunned silence for a moment, then the kid with the eye patch shook himself. "Ok, you heard what Jack said! Goils, come on." With that he jumped down the steps and headed up the street and we followed. About fifteen minutes later we reached a building with a sign that said Newsgirls Lodging House. Blink went and knocked on the door. It opened to reveal the girl who Jack had said was his sister; I think he had called her Pippa. "Hey Pippa, um, these goils, uh, need a place to stay so um, Jack sent them over here." I swear, if it was lighter out, Blink would be blushing, but in this light, it was hard to tell.

"Sure, come on in." She opened the door wider. We filed inside, but before I went in I saw Mush grab Trig.

"Um, Trig, do you think we could um, sell together tomorrow?"

She smiled, "I'd be glad to Mush." Then she hurried inside after me.

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	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership of the Newsies, the songs, or the plot line in anyway. Anything or anyone that you recognize from the movie belongs to the movie. I am not claiming ownership in any way, shape, or form. I'm just a girl who loves the movie and wants to write about it.**

Chapter 7

Hannah

Trignifty's Point of View

The sun came streaming through the window, breaking into my dreams. I sat up and looked around me, stunned. I was in a large room filled with bunk beds. Then it all came back to me, the arena, being pulled into New York City 1900, selling papes with Mush, the argument at the newsboys lodging house, and then coming here.

"Hey! Get up! Everyone up!" One of the older girls called, "Up! Up! Up!" I tried to remember what her name was; I think she had said that it was Katie. She was the leader of the Manhattan newsgirls, with Pippa "second in command". "Rise and shine! Time to get up! Get up _now_!" She yelled again. Soon the room was full of about 40 groggy girls getting ready for the day, getting dressed, brushing teeth, and braiding hair. Then one girl started whistling, another started singing and soon we were all singing and dancing, probably making total fools of ourselves, but having a heck of a good time doing it.

We got to the distribution center about the same time as the rest of the newsies. I found Mush in the crowd and he grinned at me.

"Hey Trig!" he called

"Hi Mush!" I said running over, "do you mind if Seagull sells with us?"

"Not at all"

"Great," I said hugging him. We bought our papers and headed out into New York City, carryin' the banner.

"Um, I was wondering, if um, you could take me to Brooklyn," ventured Seagull, about an hour after we started selling.

"Brooklyn? You wanna go to Brooklyn?" asked Mush, shock obvious in his voice.

"Yup, you gotta problem with that?"

"Spot Conlon's territory?" asked Mush, as if trying to clarify.

"Yes! How many times to I need to say it?" exclaimed Seagull.

"It's just that…well, Spot's a bit…um dangerous ya know? And Brooklyn ain't the friendliest part of New York either," replied Mush.

"I know that, that's exactly what everyone has been telling me," said Sea, obviously frustrated.

"Why don't 'cha ask Jack or Pippa or Katie?" asked Mush, "I mean, the three of 'em are actually friends with Spot, he actually taught Pippa how to fight."

"Well, I wouldn't be able to find them now," she replied, "please Mush?" Sea was now using the 'big-puppy-dog-eyes' technique and it seemed to work.

"A'right, fine, I'll take you to Brooklyn, but, why do you wanna go there anyway?"

Sea shrugged "curiosity."

About an hour later we arrived at the docks. Seagull was practically hyperventilating by now. Suddenly she saw Spot and squealed, then took off running down the dock, slipped on a wet patch and fell flat on her face. I ran over to help her up.

"Who's the clumsy one now?" I said grinning evilly.

"Oh shut up."

Now the three of us, Seagull, Mush, and I were surrounded by the Brooklyn newsies. "Make way! Make way!" We heard him before we saw him. Then we looked up and saw Spot standing in front of us. Man, he's even shorter in real life than he looks in the movie. He looked at Sea and me for a minute then turned to Mush. "So Mush, how's it rollin'?"

Mush shrugged, "pretty good."

"And what brings you to Brooklyn?"

Mush nodded to Seagull "That goil there, the one that fell, wanted to come, she said her reason was 'curiosity'" sarcasm was a little too obvious in his voice.

"Well there ain't much here," said Spot, turning to Sea, "except boats, docks, and the smell of fish."

Sea shrugged "so?"

"So, there's no reason for you to come 'ere" said Spot.

See crossed her arms "I go where I want to and this is where I want to go."

Spot turned back to Mush "and I'm supposed to be stuck with 'er until she's satisfied her 'curiosity'?"

"That's about the size of it" said Mush shrugging, "but actually, you'll only be stuck with 'er until tonight."

Spot stood lost in thought but then turned back to Sea, "a'right, you can stay 'ere but just for today, and today only."

Seagull squealed, jumped up, and hugged him. The expression on Spot's face was priceless, something between total shock and a look that said "do I really need to spend the rest of my day with _her_?!?"

I turned to Mush, "let's get outta here before he changes his mind." He nodded and we left in a hurry. We hadn't got far when we heard the sounds of a fight.

Mush groaned "will it never end?" but then he took off in the direction that the sounds were coming from, we arrived at an alley and looked in, it was 3 older boys taking down a younger…girl? Sheesh, how horrible! "Trig, don't get into this," warned Mush. He pulled out a slingshot and took careful aim. The stone flew and hit one of the boys square in the eye; another pebble hit another right on the nose (literally) and after several more stones the three boys went sprinting out of the alley as fast as their legs could take them.

"I thought only the Brooklyn newsies used slingshots," I said, as Mush let the last pebble fly.

"They used to be the only ones but more and more newsies have been using 'em." We ran over to help the girl up, she looked to be about my age, maybe a little older, with brown hair, hazel eyes, and an altogether "hardened" appearance. "Was the Delancy's botherin' you?" asked Mush as she brushed herself off.

"What did it look like?" She shot back, obviously angry, "of course they were!"

"Wow, anger management issues" I muttered, Mush heard me and grinned.

"Sure, sure, ok, who was the other one?"

"Richard Erickson" said the girl promptly.

"Hmm, you seem to know a lot, I didn't even know who he was" said Mush thoughtfully, "anyway, you got a name?"

"Hannah, and yours?"

"I'm Mush, she's Trignifty, or Trig," said Mush nodding to me. "So why was the Delancy's botherin' you?" he asked.

She shrugged, "I don't rightly know, probably tryin' to knock me off the map before I can do anythin' horrible to 'em, ya know?"

"No, I don't know," I said, "what do you mean by that?"

"They killed my brother, I want to give them what they deserve" answered Hannah calmly.

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	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Mush's Point of View

Central Park

I led Hannah and Trig towards the lodging house. Hannah didn't have anywhere else to go, so I was figuring she could hang with us and then go to the newsgirls lodging house afterwards, at least for tonight. I had wanted some time alone with Trig, but when Seagull had showed up I couldn't say no to letting her sell with us, and then I thought that once we left her in Brooklyn then I'd be able to talk to Trig but _no._ There had to conveniently be a fight, in our way, and what kind of person would allow three guys to take down an innocent girl? Ok, not that Hannah was that innocent. Of course I've stolen food before and gotten into fights but I'll bet Hannah could beat all the newsies combined for her list of crimes, and I'll bet that she's been in the refuge more than all the newsies combined as well. That girl had some serious, well, issues is the best word I can come up with.

Yes, I had been in the refuge before, several times actually. All of us had, even Dash, and he was only eight! Though it's not surprising, the authorities want to get rid of all the street rats, and the only way they see to get rid of 'em is to throw 'em in the refuge. Not exactly logical, but I guess they think it is. Some of the reasons are ridiculous too, one of the things that they got Bumlets for was "disturbing the peace" when all he had been doing was shouting the headline a bit…um loud. Ok, it was louder than loud, that kid has a very loud voice, but that's not the point. The point is he was supposed to be locked up in the refuge for two weeks for a very, very, _very_, dumb reason. Of course he wasn't there that long; we got him out the night after he had been arrested.

As we approached the lodging house I saw Racetrack and the girl with the red hair, I think they had said her name was Nanners, coming back. From talking to Nanners I had learned that like Race, she loved horse racing, enjoyed cards, and was a good gambler. Also, she said that before she came to New York, she used to live in Chicago and was a stable-girl, taking care of horses, exercising them and other things like that. All things that Race would find interesting.

"Heya Mush!" He called as we approached the building.

"Hi Race," I answered

"Who's the goil?" asked Race, referring to Hannah.

"Oh, she's Hannah, the Delancy's was givin' her a hard time so she's gonna hang out here for a while" I turned to Hannah, "Hannah, this is Racetrack and the goil is Nanners."

"Hey," she said, looking them both in the eye, the girl sure had confidence, or at least she seemed to. We entered the lodging house, and introduced her to the rest of the guys, as well as Katie, Pippa, and several of the other girls who happened to be there.

"Who's up for cards?" asked Race jumping down from his bunk.

Skittery rolled his eyes, "Race, do ya honestly think we'd still be dumb enough to take ya up on that offer? You alone has taken more money from me than all the other guys combined."

Race just gave him an evil grin, "wanna bet on that?"

"No!" Skittery then turned and stormed off to a corner to pretend to pout, I say pretended 'cause I was positive I saw a hint of a grin on his face, but he turned around before I could make sure.

"Hey, Folly, go cheer your future-boyfriend up will ya?" called Snipeshooter. Folly just snorted.

We ended up playing a game of Texas Hold 'Em, and Race and Nanners were the last ones in, though Racetrack beat her, Nanners said afterwards that she had let him out of "sympathy". Racetrack thought otherwise, and at last Folly was finally able to talk Skitt to come out of his corner.

Hannah tried to at least be civil with everyone, but she didn't exactly strike me as a "people person", and in the end she pretty much retreated to a corner, and it took Celena the better part of the evening to lure her out to at least talk to everyone else. Of all the people there Celena seemed to be getting along best with Hannah, though if someone said one thing that Hannah took the wrong way she would go storming off and Celena would need to spend another half hour to talk her out of the corner. Despite that it was a fun evening, and when Kloppman finally came up to tell us it was time to go to bed we were still all wide awake, but when you gotta turn out the lights and go to bed you gotta turn out the lights and go to bed, besides, it doesn't help selling very much if you've stayed out all night.

"So, who wants to walk the goils back to the lodgin' house?" asked Jack standing up.

Katie rolled her eyes, "I think we can find our way by ourselves Cowboy, I've only been doing it for the past ten years."

Jack grinned, "Well you can still get lost can't ya? Um, Blink, you can go, and Skittery, you need something to cheer you up, maybe a walk will do it."

Skittery snorted but didn't protest. "Anyone else?" called Jack.

"Honestly Jack, are you gonna send all the newsies in Manhattan just to walk us back to the lodgin' house?" teased Pippa, "how 'bout you call up Spot's crew just to make sure we don't get lost, and why not have Snapshot's group come down from Queens as well just for a little extra protection?"

Jack grinned "ya know Pippa, that ain't a bad idea."

"Aw, shut up."

The girls headed down the steps and out the door. I watched them go, especially Trig and Hannah. Those two were so different, Trig was happy and peppy, always had a ready smile and a joke, she was friendly and pretty. Hannah, on the other hand seemed outwardly confident, but when you looked at her that confidence never seemed to reach her eyes, which always seemed sad, and a bit far away, from what I had learned from talking to her, Hannah was anything but a thinker, she dove right into things without thinking, and she had a big mouth and was very opinionated. Apparently she and her brother had been living on the streets since their parents died in a train crash when she was 6, and then she had to fend for herself after the Delancy's killed her brother 2 years ago. Hannah didn't hold back at all, she said anything she thought, though I was positive that at least a little of what she said was a lie, maybe more than a little.

The next day at the distribution office Seagull wasn't there, I wondered about it until Record, a kid from Brooklyn showed up and said that Sea was going to be staying there for today, but coming back tonight, though he didn't give any reasons.

Trig and I were going to sell together again, Hannah had said she wasn't going to sell any papers and was only going to stay with the newsgirls for one night, so I was surprised when she showed up and said that she was going to sell with Celena, Paloosh, Katie, and Specs. Trig and I bought our papes and headed towards Central Park. She had asked about it yesterday and I had promised I would take her there. We wandered around the park, selling our papers as we went. It was an extremely hot day so we walked down to the lake, and sat under the trees. Trig has said she was from Philadelphia, and had come to New York for a "change of scene" she said that she moved around a lot.

"So, ya think you might stick around 'ere for awhile?"

She shrugged, "Dunno, really, it all depends, its kinda a thing when one day I'm one place the next day I'm not, I don't really like to get settled in one place."

"So where all have ya been?"

She shrugged again, "all over pretty much, Philadelphia, Washington, Boston…" her voice trailed off.

"Must be pretty hard moving around so often"

"Not really, I like it, I mean, sometimes I wish I had a family and a solid home, but ya know, its life and I gotta deal with it the best I can."

"You could stay 'ere, ya know, sell papes, stay in the lodgin' house"

She just smiled, "eh, I don't even know what I'm gonna do or where I'm gonna go, it's pretty spontaneous really. I wake up one morning and decide I want to go to New York, or D.C. or wherever, and then I go."

For some reason I was disappointed, I was really beginning to like this girl, she wasn't the greatest at selling papes, but that could change, I could hardly manage 20 a day when I started. I shook myself; she was probably going to be leaving soon anyway, no point in liking her anymore. _Get over it she isn't even going to be here much longer__, besides she's just a goil_. I told myself, but it was hard…

"Mush, still there?" she said grinning.

I shook myself and came back to reality, "yeah, just thinkin'"

"Well thinking can wait, I still have about 30 papers to sell and it's almost noon."

"I guess your right" I said getting up

We spent the rest of the day in Central Park, until we had sold all of our papers. It was a nice day so there were plenty of people to sell to. Families with kids running through the grass, couples wandering through the tree shaded paths, and plenty of people by themselves just enjoying the sunshine. We ran out of papers around 6:00, though we stayed at the park much longer talking. We didn't even notice the time slip by until around 9:30 Trig seemed to snap back to reality.

"We better be getting back, besides I'm getting pretty tired."

I nodded and we exited the park, I dropped her off at the girls lodging house, and before she went inside she stopped on the step.

"Thanks for helping me out so much with getting the hang of selling papers Mush; I don't know how I would have figured it out without your help."

"Hey, it was nothin'; I enjoyed having someone to sell with" _Oh stop acting so stupid_ I told myself _say something besides that_ but I couldn't think of anything. Trig just grinned then hugged me.

"We can do it tomorrow again, if that's ok?"

I nodded, "absolutely fine."

She smiled again, gave me another quick hug, and ran inside the lodging house. I walked back to the newsboys lodging house and flopped on my bunk.

"Tough day Mush?" asked Blink

"What? Oh yeah, it was ok." I said, I didn't want to deal with explaining right now, I was too tired, and in about 10 minutes I was asleep.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership of the Newsies, the songs, or the plot line in anyway. Anything or anyone that you recognize from the movie belongs to the movie. I am not claiming ownership in any way, shape, or form. I'm just a girl who loves the movie and wants to write about it.**

Chapter 9

Hannah's Point of View

A Small Voice

I had only meant to stay with the newsies for one night, but I had now been staying with them for a week. They were so friendly and helpful. I was used to living on my own, relying on stealing to stay alive, and sleeping in alleys to stay out of the rain. Now, selling papers, I had a way to support myself. Of course, it probably wouldn't be permanent, but I couldn't get myself to leave, it was nice being able to come "home" to a warm bed, and to know that I'll be able to have a meal. But, the thought of leaving was ever-present in my mind, a little irritating voice.

_The on__ly reason why you are still in New York City__ is to see the Delancy's pay for what they did to Joshua_ it would say.

Of course I would argue back, _that's stupid, until now you never knew when your next meal was going to be, you didn't have any friends, you were on the streets stealing to survive._

_See? That's a weakness, you are starting to rely on other people, how 'bout you sneak out tonight._

_And where would I go after I left? Back to Brook__lyn? I__ have that Spo__t Conlon already fed up with me__ as it is. Besides I'm happy here._

_Are you?__ News to me_

_Of course, now shut up and let me sleep._

It was a constant argument that would go on and on and on, always the same, never changing. The newsies were cool, they were the first people who I could call friends ever since Joshua was killed, and they were people who I felt actually cared about me. Celena was my favorite, she was sweet and friendly, she was the first to really make a move to try and befriend me, besides Mush. Of course I had to thank him, I probably wouldn't have gotten out of that fight alive if it weren't for him coming when he did, and it was great of him to let me come back here to Manhattan. I had been selling papers mostly with Celena, Paloosh, Raven, Folly, Katie, Pippa, Skittery, and Specs. Sometimes the group split up, but that's how we usually did it. Trignifty and Mush, the two who had found me _always_ sold together and so did Nanners and Racetrack, of course there were other newsies but they were the ones that I knew the best. Trig had said that one of her closer friends, Seagull was over in Brooklyn, and was supposed to have only been there for one night, the night they found me, but one night dragged onto two, and two to three, and so on, until she had been there a week. Oh well, if she wants to put up with the "high and mighty Spot Conlon" she can be my guest and go ahead, see if I care. Ugh! That kid drives me crazy.

"Everyone up! Papers to sell! Money to make! Get up!" Katie's cry filled the bunkroom, "rise and shine! C'mon up ya get! That means you Avalanche! Up! Up! Up!" Everyone tumbled out of bed, more asleep than awake, with Avalanche protesting the "early shifts" and Katie responding that it was 5:30 and not in any means "early".

Then we went to the distribution center, singing and dancing the whole way. That was one thing I would _never_ get used to. I wasn't exactly the kind of person to go dance in the streets, no matter how much you paid me, ok, maybe for a million bucks, but…

It was my turn next and I stepped up to the distribution office, that same annoying little voice protesting the entire time. _Don't buy the papers! Don't buy the papers dummy! Don't do it! Don't you dare! If you even try I'll soak ya! Don't do it! Uh-uh not a good idea! No papers! _ Do not do it unless you want—

"Twenty papers please" I cut it off.

_Ugh! You idiot! I told you not to! You ignoring smart old me, when I'm the one that's kept you alive the entire time, I'm the brains around here and you should be listening to __**ME**_

_Oh shut up_

_No! I won't shut up! I refuse to shut up! No! No! No! No! No!_

This was getting annoying; it wouldn't leave me alone, but if I left, then the other part of me wouldn't leave me alone. I set off with Celena; the two of us had opted to sell together without anyone else today.

I had sold about half of my papes when we heard the sounds of a fight. Celena and I ran around the corner and looked into the alley. It was 2 older boys taking down a younger kid, one of the newsies; I think they had said his name was Snipeshooter. I didn't recognize the older boys, though at first glance I thought they were Oscar and Morris, apparently not. I didn't have a sling-shot; I didn't have nothing but my bare hands, and a guilty conscience.

I turned to Celena, "go and get help, _now."_

"What about you?"

"What about me? Go and get help!"

The scabs had heard us and were advancing towards our end of the alley.

"Hannah…this isn't a good idea"

"Go!" I yelled pushing her in the general direction of the lodging house.

I turned back to the two boys, in front of me. This was bad, Snipeshooter was slumped against the wall, holding his ankle which looked broken, I so was not up to fighting two scabbers.

_Run!_ That annoying little voice was at it again. _You can still get away! Run!_

_What about Snipeshooter?_

_Who cares about him, since when did you care about anyone but yourself?_

_I did before Joshua died_

_What about after that?_

_Well…not really_

_And you did fine, now run_

_No!_ With that I charged at the two scabs, kicking one in the stomach, then I spun around and punched the other in the face. I was driven by a fury and anger that would not subside, I wanted to get rid of that voice once and for all, and at the moment this seemed the only way to go about doing it. One of them was grabbing me from behind now, his companion getting ready to give a punch that would do more than give a black eye. More and more scabs were coming; oh this was baaaaaaaad with a capital "b".

Suddenly I heard a "thud" and the scab holding me, collapsed, and I spun around, Jack was standing there with a smug look on his face. There was no time to talk, most of the newsies where here now, Boots, Bumlets, Skittery, Specs, Blink, Mush, Dash, Itey, Snoddy, Dutchy, Swifty, Jake, Racetrack, all of 'em, even the girls, Trig, Raven, Paloosh, Celena, Folly, Nanners, Katie, Pippa, Avalanche. I don't have much to compliment most of the girls on for their "fighting skills" but Paloosh was amazing, Katie was good, and Pippa was awesome, of course she'd been taught by the "oh-so-wonderful Spot Conlon" oh-so-wonderful indeed, yeah right.

It was complete confusion, punches being thrown left and right, Snipeshooter had recovered enough to crawl out of the general area of the fight. Several of the newsies were on the ground, being kicked or punched or completely ignored. Dash was tiny but ferocious, for being only eight he was a good fighter and didn't have the name Dash for nothing, he was quick. Right now he was on one of the scabbers back's hitting them in the head. Then the scab spun and Dash went flying across the alley slamming into the opposite wall.

"Dash!" I screamed as I ran over to him. He couldn't be dead, he was just a kid! I tried to find a pulse, his head was bleeding, and his arm looked broken. I looked back to the fight, Skittery was out cold, and Folly was next to him, trying to revive him. Itey, was on the ground being kicked by two scabbers, every time he tried to get up they would kick him again. Boots was cornered, between the wall and some trash cans by another two, and Jack had to have at least 5 attacking him at once, there were too many of them, we were outnumbered at least 3 to 1, we would never make it out alive.

Suddenly I heard a sound above us, on the fire escape, it was somewhat…familiar.

"Never fear, Brooklyn is here!" came that same arrogant voice, that same arrogant smirk, that same arrogant Spot. Well, at least he was useful right about now, out came the slingshots and marbles, well, Spot showing up was better than us getting totally soaked.

I turned my attention back to Dash "come on Dash, wake up, please" I pleaded, he was only eight! It wasn't fair that someone as young as him could die! Then I looked up and saw someone I wanted to see even less than Spot Conlon, much less. I was looking right into the eyes of Morris Delancy. I stood up, and began to fight my way through the crowd towards him, the person who had killed my brother, the person who had ruined my life. I wanted to just wipe that smirk of his face, I wanted to give him what he deserved, I was almost there…a few more steps…almost…there…

Suddenly my world went black.

**Ok, a bit of a cliff hanger, I'll hopefully have the next chapter up tomorrow. Thanks so much for all the reviews, you guys are awesome! **


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership of the Newsies, the songs, or the plot line in anyway. Anything or anyone that you recognize from the movie belongs to the movie. I am not claiming ownership in any way, shape, or form. I'm just a girl who loves the movie and wants to write about it.**

**Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter up. I was super busy and didn't have time to write, but finally I got an extra long study hall and I didn't have **_**any **_**homework. ****Yay****! So, I finished this chapter, enjoy:**

Chapter 10

Waking Up

Nanners' Point of View

We were all gathered in the lodging house, it had been 2 days since the fight, and Dash _still_ hadn't woken up. All the rest of us were okay for the most part, Hannah had a huge gash on her forehead, that wouldn't go away for awhile, and Skittery wasn't in much better condition. Thank God Race was alright, Folly was freaking out about Skitts and when he finally woke up she was practically bouncing off the walls from excitement, crazy girl, and Snipeshooter had a broken ankle and had to be on crutches for awhile, which had earned him the name "Crutchy the Second".

Dash was the one in the worst condition though; he had caught a fever and was still unconscious. Kloppman had called a doctor and Dash's arm was now in a cast and we had medication for his fever, but nothing else could be done for him until he finally regained consciousness, which didn't look like it would be anytime soon. He was just a little kid! How could someone do something so horrible to him?

The past two days hadn't been exactly what you would call fun. But despite that life went on, I mean, you gotta eat somehow, and selling papers was the only way we could, I wasn't about to go and steal anything, like _some_ people I know, (cough) Hannah (cough).

Seagull was back; she had come back along with the Brooklyn newsies, and had elected to stay in Manhattan , though Spot came over every day to see her. Apparently the two of them had hit it off very nicely and Sea had completely forgotten that we could be pulled back home at any minute. That was a dilemma I had, I really liked Race, but I had no idea when I was going to be pulled back through my computer screen and find myself back home. I felt kinda bad about all the lies I had been telling him too. Of course it wasn't all _entirely_ a lie. I have lived kinda near Chicago my entire life, and I do help at a stable near my home. I actually have my own horse, and we do hunter/jumper, but an orphan from Chicago wouldn't have her own horse, right? Of course right! I'm not exactly the greatest at history but I did know not to say that, though I did say that I helped at a stable with exercising the horses, which Racetrack found incredibly interesting.

" Nan ? You up for cards?" asked Race, interrupting my thoughts, he had taken to calling me Nan now and the name had stuck, though I considered it something Race and only Race could call me.

"What? Oh sure, whatever" I didn't really care, but I guess it was something to keep me occupied. I looked around the room. We were downstairs in the big room in front, because it was waaaaaaaaaaay too warm upstairs, well, all except Bumlets, he was upstairs watching Dash. July in New York City wasn't exactly the most comfortable month of the year, heat, humidity, and everything else that goes along with that were constant discomforts. Blink, Pippa, Katie, Specs, Avalanche, Celena, Hannah, Raven, and Paloosh were in a group talking. Seagull and Spot were, uh, occupied in a corner, Skittery was sprawled on the couch talking to Folly, and Mush and Trig were sitting on the steps outside. They were so cute together, but they hadn't done anything but talked and sold papers together. Trig had always said that Mush was her favorite newsie; at least I think she had. Well, at least they weren't acting like Spot and Seagull. Everyone else was waiting for Race to deal them some cards.

We had been playing for awhile when we heard someone on the steps, we looked up and saw Bumlets, and he had a huge grin on his face.

"Heya Bumlets" Jack greeted him, "aren't you supposed ta be watchin' Dash?"

Bumlets shrugged, grinning even more, "I was when he was unconscious; you never said anything about after he woke up."

The room erupted in to shouts, and several people started to make a beeline for the stairs, and it took Jack a while to calm everyone down.

"Ok you guys, and _goils_," he said nodding to us, "I'm sure Dash needs some quiet, I've woken up from bein' knocked out before, and all of you jumpin' for joy didn't help my head, at _all_. So everyone shut up, for my sake and the sake of the poor little kid upstairs, will ya?"

"Who said we was jumpin' for joy?" said Race sarcastically.

"Oh shut up," muttered Jack as he returned to the card game. Though I did notice Hannah sneak upstairs after awhile and after I had been beat out of all my money (which didn't take too long), I headed upstairs after her.

The bunkroom was similar to the one in the newsgirls lodging house, long and full of bunks. I looked around and spotted Hannah sitting on a bunk near a window. I went over and sat next to her.

"Hey Nanners" she said, then turned her attention back to Dash. He didn't look all that different, he had fallen back asleep, but it looked more peaceful and happy than when he had been unconscious earlier. Hannah had been especially worried about him, more than any of us, except perhaps Bumlets, he had been good friends with Dash for a long time.

"What's up?" I asked, attempting to start a conversation.

"The ceiling" muttered Hannah looking up.

I grinned, "that's true…so what's going on?"

She shrugged, "not much," she leaned over to pull up the blankets to cover Dash further.

"Glad he finally woke up?" I asked

"Of course, who wouldn't be?"

"Scab" I muttered

Hannah rolled her eyes, "knowin' them, they'd be celebratin' if he didn't"

I knew she was referring to her brother, and I did not want to get in an "awkward" conversation about _that_. I'd never had a close family member die, and I sure didn't want to talk about it now. We sat in silence for a few seconds…or were they minutes? Or maybe hours? Eh, who knows?

"Thanks for being so, well, welcoming to me" Hannah broke the silence, "all of you have been great."

"Ha, I didn't do anything, I'm pretty new myself, only been here a little over a week," I answered.

"It's kinda hard ya know? Living' by yourself on the street," she paused, "of course you probably already know that from experience."

I shivered, here comes another lie, "yeah, mostly I've been in and out of orphanages though."

"Mmm" Was the only answer Hannah gave.

"So, where did ya live before you came to Manhattan ?" I asked, trying to start a conversation.

" Brooklyn "

"Really? Where Seagull was, right?"

She nodded

"So, what's it like in Brooklyn ? I mean, I've never been there before"

"Um, pretty much the same as it is here, 'cept a lot more homeless people, a ton more fights, and way more robberies and stuff like that" then she grinned, "It also smells a lot fishier"

That made me laugh, "Well, not sure what Sea finds so attractive about it then, except for that Spot Conlon _obviously_"

"Is she gonna be stayin' here?"

"I think so, but you never know…" my voice trailed off

Hannah snorted

"What?" I asked

"It's just that everyone considers Spot so _wonderful_. Especially the goils" she shook her head, "they don't seem to be able to see past his so called good looks."

"He does seem to have a little bit of an ego," I had only seen him a few times, but from what I had seen of him he was not one to be messed with, and he demanded respect, and lots of it.

Hannah rolled her eyes, "a little bit? That kid's ego is bigger than all the other newsies combined, trust me, I should know."

"What do you mean 'you should know'? I mean, have you known him a long time?"

"A very, very long time, much longer than I wish," she answered a little hint of anger in her voice.

"Well, I guess you probably have, bein' from Brooklyn and all"

"Yeah, bein' from Brooklyn , though I originally was from Queen's."

"Hmmm, I'm pretty new to New York ; I've never been out of Manhattan "

Hannah giggled, "Really? Not very well traveled are you?"

_Actually you'd be surprised_ I thought, _I've only been to 43 states, plus, China , Ireland , Italy , France , England , and Scotland , who's the well traveled one now?_

Dash seemed to be waking up again; he rolled over, and opened his eyes.

" Nan ? Hannah?" he asked looking at us, Hannah shrieked and hugged him, I almost thought that she was crying, wow, she has really gotten attached to that little kid, or maybe they knew each other before Hannah became a newsie? Nah, impossible.

"How long have I been asleep?" he asked sitting up and trying to look out the window.

"Two days, almost three now," I said, "though Bumlets said that you had woken up earlier."

"I did?" He looked confused, "I don't remember that, oh well" he settled back into his bed, was quiet for a few minutes, then broke the silence. "I'm pretty hungry, is there any food or anythin' up here?"

Hannah shook her head, "I don't think so, but everyone else is downstairs, they might have somethin'"

"I'll go check," I volunteered, standing up. I hurried down the steps, "Any of ya have some food that a little kid who just woke up after sleeping for 3 days might enjoy?" I called out when I reached the bottom. They didn't have much, but Swifty had a dinner roll left over from when we had had dinner at Tibby's.

"It's not much, but it's better than nothin'" he said, handing it to me.

"Thanks, I'm sure he'll enjoy it" I said, as I hurried back up the stairs.

Hannah and I stayed upstairs probably another hour talking to Dash, until Kloppman came up and said that it was time for us to head back to the newsgirls lodging house.

"Night Dash," said Hannah, as we headed down the stairs.

"Night Hannah, and Nanners" he mumbled, almost asleep again.

We walked back to the lodging house with the rest of the girls, along with Blink, Spot, and Mush, who _claimed_ that Jack had told them to "escort us" suuuuuuure.

Right before I was about to go into the lodging house Spot pulled me aside, "hey, uh, do ya think you could um, give this to Hannah?" he asked, holding out a piece of paper, "she'll know it was from me."

"Um, I guess so" I muttered taking the paper, "but why don't you just give it to her yourself?"

He shrugged, "just do this for me, please?"

Spot Conlon, actually asking someone to do something, rather than ordering them? Unthinkable!

I shrugged, "Sure, whatever, I guess I can"

He grinned, "Great, thanks so much!" With that he disappeared into the night. I looked at the folded piece of paper in my hands. What did it say? And why did Spot want me to give it to Hannah of all people? I don't get it. Maybe, I could look at it…just to see what was so important, you know? But, maybe it was meant for Hannah and Hannah alone, why did I need to be the mail carrier? Oh well, I shrugged and headed inside.

"Uh, Hannah? Spot wanted me to give you this" I said holding out the paper.

She came over, "what is it?"

I shrugged, "how should I know? It's not like I'm gonna read it or anything."

She nodded and took the paper, and unfolded it. When she read it her eyes got super big, then she crumpled it up, muttering angrily.

We got ready for bed, and within ten minutes all of us were asleep.

**Please give reviews! And thanks so much to everyone who has been reviewing, you guys are the best! (****hugs****) Thanks so much!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership of the Newsies, the songs, or the plot line in anyway. Anything or anyone that you recognize from the movie belongs to the movie. I am not claiming ownership in any way, shape, or form. I'm just a girl who loves the movie and wants to write about it.**

Chapter 11

I'm Sorry

Hannah's Point of View

_Meet me at the square at 11:30 tonight_. The words kept running through my head. On one hand, he could have a perfectly legitimate reason for wanting me to meet him, on the other it may be some practical joke, knowing Spot Conlon, it probably was. _But what if this isn't some kind of joke? What happens then if you don't go?_

_But what if it is a joke? That will certainly give him something to laugh about_

_And he doesn't have something to laugh about now?_

I lay in bed fighting with myself on whether to go or not, until about ten till eleven I decided to take my chances and go. I rolled out of bed, picked up my shoes and crept down the stairs as quietly as I could. As soon as I was outside I slid my shoes on, and started heading towards the square. It was a gorgeous night, the stars where shining, the full moon was out; a light breeze was blowing from the direction of the harbor. It was perfect, alone, in the city, which for once seemed totally silent. I took my time getting to the square and arrived with about 10 minutes to spare, I sat down by the statue to wait for Spot. 10 minutes passed, then 20, then 30, I was starting to get tired and decided this must have been a prank when suddenly I heard footsteps crossing the square and I felt someone sit down next to me. I opened my eyes and saw that it was Spot.

"Took ya long enough" I said, closing my eyes again and leaning against the statue.

"I was…delayed"

"_Sure_ that's what they _all_ say"

"Thought you'd say that" he said, I could see a trace of that familiar smirk.

"So…why did ya want to meet me here?"

"I just thought that we had to straighten some stuff out"

"You _thought_ or you _knew_?" I said grinning evilly

He shrugged, "I guess I knew"

"Just the answer I expected"

"So, since when did you start going by Hannah?"

"Huh? Not sure what you mean by that" I said, though I knew perfectly well

"You know what I mean, _Jenna_"

I flinched at the mention of that name, "Hey, I just want to forget about that, ok? That's why I started going by Hannah, I wanted to start over."

"And you're having some difficulty with that" he said, not as a question but as a comment.

"Listen Conlon, I don't know what game you're playing but just let it go! Please!"

"Jen, just, relax, please"

"Will you stop calling me Jen or Jenna, me names Hannah now, a'right? I'm happy now; I don't want to remember the days of being Jenna"

"But ya _need_ too, Jen, you can't just act like it never happened! Because it did!" He was yelling now, the two of us had had plenty of fights, but this was the first in awhile.

"Ya know what Conlon? I don't even know why I even showed up here! 'Cause if you are just gonna lecture me it ain't worth my time!" I was on my feet now "thanks for wantin' to talk but I am _not_ in the mood right now," I spun and began leaving the square.

"Jen!" He ran after me and grabbed my wrist, "listen, you've been worryin' me, with all this "Hannah" stuff"

"Ya mean ya actually care? News to me!" I shot back

"Jen, just listen…"

"While you've been over in Brooklyn with that Seagull goil, I've been-"

"Jenna, will you just shut up and listen to me!" He interrupted

"No! If you actually _did_ care about me like you've been sayin' then-"

"I _do_ care!"

"Oh yeah? Prove it!"

"I do, but, differently than last time, I don't think we'll ever be able to get along like we used too"

I snorted "duh"

"So, I just wanted to say, sorry for never resolving the fight, sorry for not forgiving ya until now, and sorry about Seagull, ya happy now?"

I didn't realize until now that I was crying. I had missed Spot so much, the moonlit walks, the whispered promises, the quick kisses, but then we had fought, it was a stupid reason, I don't even remember what it had been over, but we had fought, and had never made up.

"I'm sorry too," I whispered. Then he hugged me, though not the same way he had before. We continued to talk; we walked through the streets, until around 3:30am when he dropped me off at the lodging house.

Before I went inside he held out his hand, "Friends?"

I shook it, "Friends."

**Yes, yes, I know it was a little bit short, but I haven't had a lot of time**** to write, anyway continue to feed the muse by giving reviews and hopefully another chapter will be out soon!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership of the Newsies, the songs, or the plot line in anyway. Anything or anyone that you recognize from the movie belongs to the movie. I am not claiming ownership in any way, shape, or form. I'm just a girl who loves the movie and wants to write about it.**

Chapter 12

In a Tree

Trignifty's Point of View

I rolled over in bed, and opened my eyes, judging from the light it was early, very early. I thought I had heard someone talking, but decided it must have just been my imagination. Then I heard someone coming up the steps, I sat up.

"Well you're up late" I said as Hannah crept towards her bunk.

"What? Oh, yeah" She answered as she climbed into her bunk, "you don't wanna know."

"I wasn't asking" I said as I rolled over and fell back asleep.

"Everyone up! Come on! Up ya get! Come on! Up! UP! Up!" Katie's now familiar call rang out through the room and worked its way into my dreams. "C'mon Trig! Time to get up!"

"Alright, alright, I'm awake, I'm up" I said sitting up.

She was having even more trouble with Hannah, who had been up all night. "Mmkay Hannah! Time ta get up! Right now!" she said pounding on her bunk.

Hannah just groaned and rolled over, "fine, if ya wanna sleep through the day, be my guest, it just means ya won't get the money."

"Alright, I'm up, now quit buggin' me ok?"

"Sure, just don't fall back asleep" warned Katie "or else."

When we reached the distribution center I searched the crowd for Mush, I spotted him and headed over. "So how'd you sleep Mush?" I asked

"On me back Trig"

"Hey!" called Jack coming over, "that is a copyrighted answer!"

"What?" Mush gave him an all-too-innocent grin, newsies; you gotta love 'em.

We bought our papes and headed to our favorite selling spot, Central Park. It was a very good selling spot, because there were plenty of people there, besides it was quieter than the busy streets, and much more comfortable wandering down tree shaded avenues than crowded cobblestone streets, in the middle of August.

We wandered down to the lake and sat down.

"So, how do ya like bein' a newsie?" he asked, turning to me.

"Um, I enjoy it well enough" I said

"So, have ya rethought stickin' around a bit?"

_Of course I've rethought it, I didn't need to rethink, I would stay here the rest of my life if I could_ I wanted to say, but I knew better, how do you explain to a kid from 1899 that you've been pulled through a computer screen…oh, that's right, you don't.

"Um, well, I'm not really planning on leaving any time soon, but" I shrugged "who knows?"

"Oh" he looked so disappointed; oh, I hated all this lying.

"Listen Mush, I really like it here, but I never know when I'm gonna 'up and leave' I just, don't like being in one place a long time."

He turned to me, "would you possibly rethink that?"

"Why?"

"Because, well, I…"

"Out with it Mush"

He turned my head towards him so that he was looking directly into my eyes, "I think I love ya Trig, I just, wanted to ask, would ya, I mean, would ya be me goil?"

I smiled, "for as long as I stay, of course," and then he kissed me, I was shocked, but in a good way, and I kissed him back.

"Mush and Triggy sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G" We turned around and saw Racetrack, Nanners, and Paloosh, who immediately ducked behind some bushes. Mush put a finger to his lips to signal me to be quiet, then crept up on the bushes and pounced.

"Hey!" I heard Racetrack yell

I ran around and saw the two of them in a small "wrestling" match. Nanners and Paloosh were cheering, and laughing, I leapt on top of Paloosh.

"What the?!?" She yelped, as she fell, soon all five of us were flopped on the ground in the sunshine, laughing, and absolutely exhausted, but happy, very happy.

It seemed that by the time we finished selling papes and were back at the lodging house, every newsie in New York seemed to know about what took place in Central Park. Oh well, whatever, better now than later I guess.

There was nothing I wanted more now than to be able to stay here forever, I loved New York, and I loved Mush, as well as everything else…except of course the scabs. Oh well, ya gotta take what your given and not complain about it.

**Yeah, short, I know…sorry :( Well, at least I got a chapter up…well thanks to all you guys who have ****been**** reviewing, you are awesome! **


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership of the Newsies, the songs, or the plot line in anyway. Anything or anyone that you recognize from the movie belongs to the movie. I am not claiming ownership in any way, shape, or form. I'm just a girl who loves the movie and wants to write about it.**

Chapter 13

Free Day

Sarah's Point of View

Mama had relented enough to "unground" me enough to allow me to spend the day with Jack and Raven. I don't actually sell papers, I think I'm probably more of an annoyance than anything else…especially to Raven, but we've been getting along pretty well, for the most part.

Jack had decided to sell down by the docks and Raven had decided to tag along. We wandered down towards the harbor, by the time we got there Jack had already sold a large amount of his papes, and Raven had gotten through about a quarter of hers.

"Extra! Extra! New York School System shuttin' down! Deadly epidemic sweeping the city!" Yelled Jack, when the actual headline was something along the lines of one school skipping a day because half the teachers where out sick with a "cold".

I walked alongside the two of them. I loved these days when Mama let me have a "free day" to spend as I wished, which usually included spending lots of time with a certain Manhattan newsboy. All Jack and Raven had been talking about all day was how Mush had kissed Trig yesterday and how she had kissed him back. Honestly, you would think that they would get bored of it after a while, but _no._

The day had been pretty uneventful, if you count a normal day in the middle of New York City uneventful. We had lunch at Tibby's with the rest of the Newsies, and then returned to the docks to sell the afternoon edition. Around 8:30 we decided to head back to the lodging house. We were about a fifteen minute walk to the lodging house when we rounded a corner and spotted the two Delancy's; from the way they were staggering around they looked drunk. They spotted us and began moving towards us.

"Jack, why don't we get outta here" I said tugging on his arm

He turned to me, "Sarah, run back to the lodgin' house and get some help a'right?"

"No! C'mon Jack!" Raven was trying to pull him away from them as well, "we aren't up to a fight! Remember what happened last time!"

"Just go!" He whispered to us

"Jack, think about this" I pleaded

He looked at me and then at Raven and then at the Delancy's debating, "A'right, let's get outta here" I sighed with relief, we took off running down the street, it was going to be okay, it was going to turn out fine, then Raven tripped, she fell, scraping her knee on the pavement, and her wrist looked broken. The Delancy's were gaining on us; we helped Raven up and kept running

About two more blocks to the lodging house, we were going to make it. Then I fell, these stupid skirts always get in my way. I went down, hitting the ground hard. I tried to get up and caught a glimpse of metal flashing, I spun around and saw Morris, charging at me, knife in hand, I tried to scream but I couldn't make a sound. Then I did hear someone scream, it sounded like Raven.

Jack spun around and saw what was going on, he went sprinting past me and tackled Morris, they both went down in a ball of fists and kicks. Raven helped me up. Suddenly I felt someone grab me from behind slamming my head into the wall, and my world went black.

**Ha-ha I'm so evil, another cliff hanger (evil laugher) this fic is almost over but I have some ideas for the next one…um yeah, thanks so much for giving reviews you guys are the best! (Hugs) Uh, yeah, I think that's ****it :D**


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership of the Newsies, the songs, or th****e plot line in anyway. Anything**** or anyone that you recognize from the movie belongs to the movie. I am not claiming ownership in any way, shape, or form. I'm just a girl who loves the movie and wants to write about it.**

Chapter 14

When We Passed

Ravenwood's Point of View

It felt like a dream, except the pain wouldn't stop. Everything seemed to be going in slow motion, yet it was moving too fast. My head hurt, it hurt really badly. I heard shouting, and a police whistle, the sound of horse feet hitting cobblestone streets, more shouting. I needed quiet, I needed somewhere to rest. Someone was carrying me now, but I didn't open my eyes, I was afraid of what I would see.

I think I passed out, because when I opened my eyes again I was laying in a bunk in the lodging house. I sat up and immediately lay down again, it hurt too much to move. My arm was in a sling and I could feel bandages wrapped around my head. I heard footsteps.

"Raven? Oh thank God you're awake!" It was a girl's voice, my best guess is that it was Trig but I'm not sure.

"How long have I been out?" I asked, closing my eyes again.

"Three days, counting today," she answered, I was sure it was Trig now.

"Really? What happened?"

"Too much to say now, get some sleep, you'll find out everything soon enough" she said in reply.

"Trig, I've been sleeping for the past three days; I don't think I need any more sleep right now."

"No, the doctor said that you needed plenty of rest," she answered

"And sleeping for three days isn't plenty of rest?"

"Raven, I'm not in the mood to argue with you."

"Okay, okay, fine, but can I ask you one question?"

"One question and that's it"

"How are Sarah and Jack?"

"Uh, well,"

"Out with it Trig"

"Well, Sarah woke up two days ago and she's gonna be fine, but um,"

"What?"

"Jack hasn't woken up yet, and the doctor says that it will be a miracle if he lives,"

"What?!?" I sat bolt upright and opened my eyes, I didn't care how much it hurt, "It was just a knife, they should be able to treat it! Shouldn't they?"

"Raven, this isn't 2007, it's 1900," She looked apologetic "all we can do is wait, and hope, if you believe prayers work then I guess you can pray too, I know I will." She was toying with a necklace she had worn since we got here; I noticed that it was a cross.

"Well, I ain't exactly religious so, I'll wait, and hope"

She sighed, "That's all I can ask of you."

--------

It has been three years since the seven of us were pulled through our computer screens into New York City, 1900. We returned home about a month after the fight, none of us know yet how we got there, or how we got back home. We have tried several times to go back but have never succeeded.

What happened after the fight? Well, the Delancy's had finally been caught, those were the police whistles I had heard that night. They were sent to the State Penitentiary, for countless things they had done, including killing Hannah's brother. Hannah had finally seen justice done.

Sarah recovered fully, though she will always have a scar on her forehead, and I swear; now whenever I watch Newsies I can see a faint mark there, where her head hit the wall. Jack wasn't so lucky, he finally regained consciousness a week later, but, by that time he had developed a fever, and no matter what the doctors did it wouldn't go down. 3 weeks later, he died. It was hard on all of us, but especially Pippa, the Jacobs family, and Hannah, now two people she had known well had died because of the Delancy's.

The funeral was packed, newsies from all over New York, as well as other people, non-newsies. By the end almost all the Manhattan newsies were in tears. I felt horrible for Pippa, but at least she had Hannah, who felt exactly like she did at one point. That was the first time I had experienced a death to someone I knew personally, it was hard, to know you would never see them again, except of course when I watch Newsies, now I can barely get through it without crying, but that seems to make it even more amazing.

Every now and then the seven of us, Paloosh, Nanners, Celena, Seagull, Trignifty, Folly Foal, and I will meet in the arena, and talk about when we had gone back in time to New York City. The joys and the sorrows and everything in between, I don't think we will ever be the same as we were before. The seven of us were some of the closest friends on Horseland, but we all shared something in common. All seven of us have passed the barrier.

**The End! Yes, I know it was kinda sad, go ahead and yell at me if you wish (it gives you an excuse to give reviews). I hope that you liked it; I'll hopefully have another fic out soon!**


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